Personality: Gary L. Flowers
Spotlight on local coordinator of ASALH 101st annual convention
Black history — for people of all ethnic backgrounds — is a requirement and not an elective in understanding the common origins of all people, says Gary L. Flowers.
Morrissey ahead in polls, but battles to keep law license
Attorney Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey appears to be riding high in his quest to become Richmond’s next mayor. But he also continues to be dogged by the sex scandal that landed him in jail in 2014 and a fresh effort to strip him of his law license. Mr. Morrissey, who was once the city’s chief prosecutor and now is a defense attorney, has emerged as the front-runner in the eight-way race to replace Mayor Dwight C. Jones, the first public poll of the race indicates.
North Side sees signs of growth, renewal
A new wave of investment is beginning to pour into Richmond’s North Side. During the next two years, private and nonprofit developers are gearing up to invest more than $50 million in new houses and apartments, mostly along 1st and 2nd avenues in Highland Park.
Woodland, Evergreen cemeteries for sale
A Richmond foundation is pursuing the purchase of two historic, but privately held African-American cemeteries, the Free Press has learned.
Rep. Scott’s Labor Day cookout
A 40-year tradition of serving hot dogs, politics
How often can you walk into a cookout, grab a hot dog and chat with U.S. senators, several Virginia mayors and perhaps the governor, without paying thousands?
Superintendent starting school year with optimism, plan
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Superintendent Dana T. Bedden is taking that familiar saying to heart when it comes to academic improvement in Richmond Public Schools.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu hospitalized
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is responding well to treatment for a recurring infection, his daughter, Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe said this week.
Trump defends wall in meeting with Mexico’s president
Once referring to Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump as comparable to Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler, Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto expressed optimism that he and Mr. Trump could work together.
Tappahannock’s Chris Brown in trouble with the law — again
Grammy-winning singer and Virginia native Chris Brown and the Los Angeles Police Department spent much of Tuesday morning and afternoon locked in a surreal standoff at the R&B performer’s Tarzana, Calif., home. According to LAPD officials, the incident began early Tuesday when they received a 911 call about a woman claiming she had been threatened with a gun.
FBI detects breaches in two state voter systems
The FBI has found breaches in Illinois’ and Arizona’s voter registration databases and is urging states to increase computer security ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election, according to a U.S. official familiar with the probe.
GOP at it again
Republican leaders seek to hold Va. governor in contempt for restoring voting rights of 13,000 former felons last week
Gov. Terry McAuliffe once again is under attack from Republican leaders in the General Assembly who are determined to halt his efforts to restore the voting and political rights of hundreds of thousands of felons who have served their time. In a new filing Wednesday, GOP leaders asked the Virginia Supreme Court to hold the Democratic governor in contempt for restoring the political rights of 13,000 felons last week and for trying to do so in coming months for more than 200,000 others who have completed their sentences.
Electoral Board seeking legal decision on candidate qualification
Richmond has put a hold on printing ballots for the Nov. 8 general election while the city’s Electoral Board tries to figure out whether two candidates’ names should be listed.
Public hearing Aug. 31 on banning firearms in state executive branch offices
The state Department of General Services will hold a public hearing next week on its proposed permanent regulation banning concealed firearms in the state’s executive branch offices. The hearing will be 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Aug. 31, in the auditorium of the Pocahontas Building, 900 E. Main St. in Richmond.
Nonprofit helps students with scholarships
A Richmond area nonprofit is seeking to assist parents to obtain state scholarships to enroll children with dyslexia, autism or other learning challenges in accredited private schools.
Keep politics out of Richmond races
Let us not have political party influence or interference in any of our local elections. As divisive and dysfunctional as the political climate is, we should certainly want Richmond to be a political-free zone.
Journalist George Curry ‘will be missed’
I write as a native of Richmond, mail subscriber to the Richmond Free Press and a current resident of Tuscaloosa, Ala., hometown of the late George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service.
‘American people cannot afford another recession’
We have made tremendous strides over the last eight years to dig ourselves out of one of the deepest recessions the United States has seen in decades. Under President Obama, we have gone from losing more than 800,000 jobs per month to the longest sustained monthly job growth in our nation’s history.
Make America ‘great’ again?
Our American exceptionalism allows us to shimmer too fully in our greatness. We are the biggest and the baddest. We are the best armed and the most influential. We win the most Olympic medals, and we have the most nuclear weapons. America, the greatest! We are so great that we wave our flags and shout, “USA! USA!”
Injustice with no action, little notice
Now it is Milwaukee. On Aug. 13, a car with two African-American men was stopped for “suspicion.” The men fled, the policeman pursued, and driver Sylville Smith, reportedly armed, was shot and killed.
